This property belonged to Mr. Spence. Mr. Spence didn’t have a formal education but his working experience in raising swine and cattle made him a leader in the farming community.

Mr. Spence took part in Junior Farming judging competitions at the Canadian National Exhibition and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. In 1928 he won the Top Novice Award at the C.N.E.

He then began to show his pigs at the Chatham Agricultural Fair (now defunct), transporting them by a team of horses and a wagon. Mr. Spence bred Berkshire swine, of which some ended up being exported to the USA and Mexico. In the 1930s he registered his farm with the Canadian National Livestock Records.

In the late 1940s, he began a local marketing agency for hog producers. Farmers would bring their hogs to the Spence farm on Tuesdays where the animals would be weighed and tattooed. The pigs were then shipped by truck to the Coleman Packing Company in London.

Mr. Spence was a supporter of the Ontario Co-operative movement and worked hard in the development of the Thamesville District Co-operative Association. This contribution was recognized in 1964 with the presentation of the Co-operative Pioneer Award.

Mr. Spence was a founding member of the Quality Swine Co-operative in Shedden, sharing its goal of developing better swine. He was interested, too, in Shorthorn cattle, and was one of the first breeders to import polled Shorthorns from the United States, with the well-known Lynwood Farm bloodlines from Purdue University.

A 25-acre woodlot, still standing, is a living legacy from a man dedicated to conservation and sound land stewardship.

Mr. Spence received many honours and awards. The Kent County Hog Producers’ gave him special recognition in 1973 for more than three decades of service as a Director. A Life Membership from the Canadian Lacombe Breeders’ Association the following year was “In appreciation of his contribution to and long association with” that organization.

The Ontario Swine Breeders’ Award of Merit for outstanding service to the purebred swine industry came in 1975. This was “In recognition and appreciation of the many years of loyalty toward our industry, and in special recognition of outstanding human quality and integrity.”

Mr. Spence passed away in 1983. His wife passed away in 1993 at the age of 89.

The house may have been vacated after his death, or perhaps his wife moved into a long-term care facility. The house’s contents are certainly indicative of the late 1980’s era.

 

This house is one of the top abandoned locations I ever had the privilege of exploring in Ontario. The house was located in Dresden, Ontario along a main road. The land is used for farming and the house could be easily mistaken for being lived in. It was purchased by John and Katerina Drlicka in 1951.

Katerina was born on April 29, 1910 in Narodena, Slovakia. Katerina passed away in 1968 and John passed away in 1993. I don’t have any information as to what happened to the family except to say that it still remains in the family name.

When I visited in 2015 the power was still working. The main living room looked just like it would have in 1968, with the shag carpeting, pole lamps and chairs. The bedroom clocks were most certainly from the 1960’s.

One interesting find in this house was a hand grenade, which I didn’t find on my visit but other explorers did.

Revisit
Someone has set up a drum set here. I wish I’d taken more photos. The house was demolished in late 2022.

The way into this property is overgrown, so much so that it’s not likely many people would stop to investigate what lies beyond the entrance. For those who do venture down the path, a treasure awaits.

This is the Lover’s Getaway. The details behind the property are somewhat unclear at this point and probably will remain unclear as I don’t wish to intrude on the family’s privacy by contacting them.

There was a man named E.S.H. who lived with his wife in this part of Ontario. He would have been born in 1913. There’s a framed certificate from the Province of Ontario congratulating E. on his 85th birthday which took place on October 2, 1998. E. passed away the following year, 1999.

This is where things get a little cloudy. Inside the house are letters and cards addressed to a couple with the names B. and B. The couple has owned this property since 1976.

Throughout the house are several indicators of this couple being grandparents. These include a handcrafted, “Grandma is my name, spoiling is my game” figurine, photos of children on the fridge, children’s hand drawn art given to their grandparents.

I often get caught up in photographing everything in front of me, and neglect to read the letters. A return visit would be necessary. I believe that after E.S.H. passed away, his wife moved in to be with her daughter (the B. and B. couple). Another possibility is that the woman remained in her own home, and B & B handled the mail and bills that came in the woman’s name. I say this because mail in the house is addressed to B and B, but also mail to B’s father (E.S.H.)

If I had to give my best guess, I would say this was a seasonally used property and B & B moved away, and the elderly mother moved with them.

The outdated cars on the property such as the Lincoln Continential would seem to indicate a timeframe of approximately late 70’s to early 80’s (if I’m mistaken, please correct me on this). Property records reveal that B. & B. has owned the house since 1975.

I was able to find the woman on social media, and she appears to be in her 70’s (I made no attempt to contact her). What makes this house peculiar in a way is the assortment of Playboy magazines and the large mirror placed above the master bed. Now you can understand why I’d be reluctant to reach out to the family, right? The hobby has always been about exploring other people’s memories and this seems a little too intrusive to attempt to make contact.

One can’t help but wonder what led to the family walking away and leaving appliances, hundreds of photographs, antiques, china, clothing and everything else behind? Even if the daughter moved in with the mother or vice versa, why leave EVERYTHING behind?

I believe that B. now lives with, or close by her mother although she would be close to 100 years of age.

The best explorations I have always said, are the ones that leave you with questions.

Approaching The House

The trek in to this house is mildly difficult, and there are neighbours close by. Three old cars guard the outside of the property. The roof’s in rough shape and the property is becoming overgrown as nature takes over.

As you make your way inside the entrance, you enter into a small foyer. There’s a back room, which I didn’t explore. Turn 90 degrees to your right, and you’re now in the kitchen. An antique wood burning stove was probably the original cooking appliance. A more modern stove is a few feet away. Turning on the light switch led to a pleasant surprise – there was still power!

On the fridge are several photographs of young grandchildren. There’s a hand-drawn card for “Grab pi” (grandpa?). The fridge by the way, was empty. A calendar in the kitchen shows June of 2001.

The cupboards still have dishes and cups inside, as well as an assortment of cooking supplies. I didn’t spend a lot of time investigating the contents of the kitchen. A piece of paper on the kitchen counter reminded someone that the water had been shut off and the taps were left open. This makes me question if this may have been a seasonally used property.

The kitchen area opens up into an open space where you can either go downstairs to the basement, enter the dining room, or proceed down the hallway.

Dining Room

The dining room table was filled with items such as photos, newspapers and general clutter. There’s a lovely antique glass cabinet with china inside of it. I’ve seen these in several abandoned houses. A wood burning stove is in the corner of the room. A hutch contains plates and glasses, and there’s a bottle of homemade berry wine. The fruit and plants by the way, aren’t real.

Newspapers, Christmas decorations, photos, artificial plants, antiques on shelves, boxes, envelopes of photos and so much else… I found it difficult to process all of this at once.

Living Room

The living room used to be immaculate… the ceiling was at one time intact. The television sat on a table next to the VCR cabinet. The couches looked clean and inviting. Now the water damage in the ceiling has caused the drywall to collapse. To make things worse, the table has been flipped over and everything is just a general mess. Photos have been removed from the wall. The air is dusty and leaves a taste in your throat.

Documents pertaining to firefighting were found in the husband’s name as well as firefighting shoulder patches and clothing. In the living room, I found various firefighting figures. Large stuffed animals and children’s toys new in the box suggested to me that there were grandchildren in the picture. There are model cars on display upon the fireplace mantle, and several unopened Hot Wheels collectables. The stereo equipment consists of an amplifier, dual cassette deck, tuner and turntable. There’s an extensive VHS collection consisting mainly of videos taped on them, rather than commercial releases.

The assorted snowmen and Santa’s found scattered in the house room seem to indicate that the house was vacated around Christmas, although the calendar showing June contradicts the winter season.

In the bathroom I found the drawers opened, and filled with what looked like ceiling insulation though the ceiling was intact. It appeared like someone had rifled through the drawers and tossed the items on the countertop.

Bedroom

The bedroom was what I’d call a time crapsule. Everything was left behind… the clothes were hanging in the closet, the bed had been made, the dresser’s were filled with clothing. That is until the thieves found this house and tossed it. When I say they tossed it, I mean they tossed it. Drawers were ripped out of the dressers and thrown on the floor. The contents were scattered across the floor. Papers and clothes were everywhere. It was disgusting… all because some people felt they were entitled to take jewelry or other valuables. In the interest of transparency, I did spend 20 minutes tidying the place up to take photos as the bedroom would have looked a year ago. The kink factor was evident here with the mirror above the bed and assorted adult magazines. I’d find it difficult to sleep under that, concerned that it might one day fall down upon me.

The inability to drive into this property also has a silver lining – it has prevented people from leaving with the larger antiques. The nightstands appear to be the only thing missing from the bedroom.

Sewing Room

The lady of the house enjoyed her crafting. Her sewing room contains boxes of Simplicity patterns, buttons and other sewing accessories. The opposite wall contains dozens of fabric paint bottles, which might have been used for patterns on fabric. Out in the front room we found an antique Singer sewing machine, the kind that hides away down in the desk. The woman still sews, has a presence on Pinterest, and works on quilts.

2023 – Demolished!

This isn’t quite a time capsule house but it does have most of the possessions left inside it, in a messy state. The living room has several boxes of personal items such as school notebooks and birthday cards (one including a $1 bill). The kitchen contains lots of dishes scattered about.

There are clothes hanging on the coat hooks.

The yard is cluttered with old electronics such as black and white televisions and a tractor out in the back.

Video

This large property is hidden away behind the tree line of the road it’s situated on. It has two large barns, , three workshops, two greenhouses, a boat, and an old Volkswagen.

Jonas Ulpmann was born in Estonia, Europe on May 21, 1906. Jonas never married or had children, but he did have 9 siblings. One of those siblings is Magnus Ulpmann, his younger brother and the owner of this house. Magnus, also known as “Max”, was born on December 13, 1914. Magnus married Elfriede Laende at the age of 28. 5 years later they had a son, Vello, followed by a daughter Mare. All taking place in Estonia. After this, they immigrated to Canada somewhere between 1947-1957, along with Jonas, where they settled in Toronto. Then many years later moved to East Gwillimbury where they created their home. Jonas stayed in Toronto, until he died in 1958.

Their son Vello married and had 3 children, but died in 1998. Magnus then died in 2003, leaving his wife Elfriede as a widow. This leads to how this place got abandoned. Elfriede died in 2012 at the age of 94. But seeing as how it has been abandoned since at least 2011, so I am assuming she moved into another home for the last years of her life.

(Information from Emily R.)

Along a quiet rural road this house sits in silence. The occasional car is about the only sound you’ll hear. There are signs of water damage inside the house.

There’s a certain absence, something’s missing, that would make this house have a lived in look to it. I can’t quite place it. The children’s bedroom has a made up bed with stuffed animals on it. In the master bedroom, you’ll find assorted jewelry, clothes in the closet.

The basement has a nice office area and a corner bar.

The most troubling sign though are what appears to be pools of blood on the carpet and a pillow.

This is the story of Eileen Kirk.

Eileen’s house was an amazing time capsule in Gravenhurst, Ontario. It wasn’t a house where time had stopped ticking during the 1970’s or 80’s but rather the 1990’s. Regardless, this house was perfectly preserved when we photographed it in the summer of 2015.

In term of abandoned houses, the Kirk house was immaculate. The kitchen was fully stocked with dishes and appliances. Books and CD’s were organized on shelves, a telephone sat charging in its cradle. Several family portraits hung on the walls. In the living room, the couch pillows were in place where the owner would have left them. On a chair in the living room I found a satchel and tambourine. Nothing was out of place, nothing to suggest that the house’s contents had been picked over. This was truly a gem find!

Down the laundry room, Eileen’s clothes were still hung out to dry on a makeshift clothesline.

Eileen had prepared her house for Christmas. The fireplace mantle was decked out with Christmas ornaments and a Christmas tree was set up. Christmas lights had been put up in the windows and decorations hung on the wall.

I found an album which was put together to commemorate the life of Eileen:

In 1910 on a bright sunny morn,
A little baby girl, Laura Eileen, was born.
The first little girl to Emma and George
Who were already parents of three little boys.
She had a sweet face, and brown curly hair…
and was a great blessing to all the folks there
But sadness soon came as George passed away
leaving Emma to raise four, and one on the way.

There was George Jr. and Shelly, Jim and Eileen
Then baby Elizabeth came on the scene.

Emma did her best to raise her little brood
And it wasn’t easy keeping them in clothing and food.

But raise them she did, make them tow the line
And they all grew up, and turned out just fine.

On a visit to Bracebridge
Eileen met a man
And soon it was obvious
marriage was in the plan.
Wimund Kirk was his name
and they were much in love
‘Twas a marriage made
in Heaven above
(– Married April 16, 1958 –)

But when they went North
(Monteith) for Wimund to teach,
The family felt they were
too far out of reach.

Back to Hamilton for a spell
Wimund came with his wife,
Then eventually to Bracebridge
for the rest of their lives.

Beth had three daughters
Noreen, Lois and Jean
They were close to the
Kirks, who had no kids
of their own.

Eileen made them dresses
and fussed with their hair
And holidays didn’t start
til the Kirks were there!

After Eileen and Wimund
to Bracebridge had gone,
They soon were blessed with
their own little son.

‘Steven’ he was called, after
Eileen’s maiden name

And the Kirk’s soon found
life just wasn’t the same.
He was cute and active
and kept things alive

Little did they know
Baby Kathy would soon
arrive!

Another event happened which
changed all our lives.
When Beth’s daughter Lois
tragically died.

It wasn’t long till the Kirks
family would grow.
As Beth to the ministry
decided to go.

So Noreen, Joan and
Grandma also moved in
And a busy life for the Kirks
would begin!

Noreen and Joan in a few
years were married
Which made Eileen’s life
a little less hurried.

Joan married Raymie
and became a Lee
Noreen married Bob
and became a Kennedy.

When their kids came
along
Aunt Eileen was always there
To give them a hand
and show that she
cared.

She’d sew the children clothes
and sweaters she’d knit
She’d cook and bake
and baby-sit.

Noreen and Joan don’t
know what they’d have done
If Aunt Eileen hadn’t opened
Her heart and her home.

Kathy and Steven too
grew up before too long,
and in a few years
they’d left Bracebridge
and gone!

Aunt Eileen’s life has had
its ups and downs
But she rarely gives a complaint
or a frown

And now she is ninety
She’a lived a good life
As an aunt, a mother, a grandma, a wife.

So take it easy Aunt Eileen
and give yourself a rest
We wish you a happy 90th
– A birthday that’s the best

Eileen married John Wimund Kirk on April 16, 1958. John worked as a school principal at Macaulay Public School in Bracebridge. The couple had a son, Steven George Kirk, who was born on March 31, 1947. He passed away in 2022. They later had a daughter named Kathy.

Unfortunately with all things nice and beautiful to the eye of the explorer, someone else saw potential for vandalism and spray painting. Today the house has been ransacked and someone has spray painted the walls.

Eileen, passed away in 2001 at the age of 90. To me this suggests that the house had been untouched for almost 20 years. Her husband John Wimund passed away in 1992.

Update
Some visitors have informed me that the movie poster is from 2003. I’ve also learned that the daughter Kathy, took over the home after her parent’s passed away. The timeline for being vacant is in the range of 2003.

These photos were taken with an 18-55mm lens and the quality is not the greatest. I regret not documenting this house more thoroughly.

January 2, 2023
We visited here today and found that all of the belongings have been removed. The interior is bare. On our way out, an employee of the business next door stopped us. He explained that the company owned the property and is planning to demolish the house. There’s a video at the bottom of the page showing what the house looks like now.

This concludes the story.

January 2, 2023

While there are no exteriors of the house I’ll be showing you, it’s evident that the house dates back to at least the 1970’s. The deck at the rear of the property is now quite rotten. There are several holes in the deck so you have to be cautious walking on it. I cautiously navigated it, keeping close to the walls. By the shed are two old rotary dial phones. They are a prelude to the past way of life to be found inside this house.

We were the first explorers ever to set foot inside this house. Upon making our way inside the house, the first room we discovered was the living room. I remember exclaiming, “This place is awesome!” Indeed it was, a perfectly preserved time capsule. So very rare.

The living room is perfectly preserved. A couch faces an older model television, a VCR and DVD player are connected to the set. On a table next to the television are some assorted DVD’s. A coffee table in front of the couch is covered by cloth, a box of Kleenex and bowl set upon it. 

 There was a very small amount of dust on the furniture.  I ran my finger along the wood as if to prove that there was dust, and therefore the house is abandoned. (Our social media following likes to believe that no dust means a house is occupied) 

There’s a hutch in the corner of the living room. I remember opening it but can’t recall what was inside. At the other end of the living room is a fireplace with assorted clocks and knicknacks on the mantle. The more I looked around, the more I noticed the clocks. Two were mounted on the wall just behind the couch. They were on the mantle. They were on shelves. They were… everywhere.

Magazines are sitting underneath the coffee table. There are cobwebs in the corners of the walls. The place looks completely lived in, yet it’s been vacant for many years.

On the table by the window rests a photo of Jesus. Whomever had lived here was religious. In today’s society if Facebook goes down, it becomes international news. I respect people who practice religion of the non-internet faith. There was a lack of family photographs which I found puzzling. On a chest in the living room I observed two framed photographs taken at a wedding. I believe that one of the photos is of the couple’s son while the other is of the entire family. 

I moved on to the kitchen where I immediately noticed two things of interest: One was that the power was working. The microwave showed the incorrect time. The other thing was that there were three calendars (1999, 2006 and 2008). There was a religious Psalm hung on the kitchen wall. 

One of the kitchen drawers had been removed and placed on the kitchen table. Various utensils were in the box underneath it. The dish cloths hung on the stove. The stove clock showed the incorrect time, likely due to power outage some time ago. The fridge doors were open, the contents had been removed and the fridge’s power disconnected. One of the bedrooms contained boxes of food from the cupboards. The water had been disconnected long ago which would prevent broken pipes. Besides the empty fridge there was other evidence that the home had not been lived in for quite some time – cobwebs.  At some point after the owner passed away, I believe the children came to empty the fridge and turn off the water but left most of the personal effects behind.

We noticed an unusal device at the end of the hallway by the bedrooms, a box with a red light and a siren mounted on it. It appeared to be some sort of an alarm system.

Cobwebs were in the doorways to the bedrooms, in the kitchen, in the corners of the living room, everywhere! If someone had been caring for this property, they’d have disturbed the cobwebs. By the time we left this house, our clothes and hair had accumulated most of the cobwebs. 

I made my way into the the master bedroom. AMAZING! The bed was still made and slippers were at the foot of the bed. The closets had clothing stull hung up inside. I noticed something that struck me as odd – a bell on the night stand. It was at this point that I wondered if perhaps the former occupant of this house had been bedridden or ill.  

Factoring the calendars and cobwebs, I estimated that this house has been vacant for at least eight years, probably longer. What particularly impresses me is that in that time nobody had broken in to steal. The dresser drawers are all in place, and the clothes haven’t been tossed about. How is this possible in a society that steals and damages vacant properties? 

The exterior of the house has bars on all the ground level windows. I first found this to be mildly disturbing and while I explored the upper levels of the house I really wanted to know what was downstairs. At the same time I intentionally avoided the venture into the basement, because it offered excitement and anticipation. What would we find down there?

We ventured down into the basement where I really lost my mind. There was a retro basement bar with liquor bottles still on the shelf. Along one wall was an assortment of antique clocks of various designs. Along the back wall were shelves with several more clocks, many with price tags on them. The man who lived here operated a watch and clock repair shop out of one of the rooms in the basement. In one of my photos you’ll see his workshop which is just inside from the garage where the car remains gathering dust.

The bars on the basement windows were now explained. The owner of this home wanted to protect his investment of clocks. 

By now I was beginning to feel an emotional attachment to this house and to whomever had lived here. I pictured the elderly man as he tinkered in the basement on his latest project. I saw him growing older over the years until the time came where he would be moved into a long-term care facility.

The recreation room served as a makeshift showroom. It saddened me because althought we’d only been inside the house for less than an hour, I could already forsee the inevitable shitbaggery that would come when people would come to steal these. On the fireplace mantle were several candle lanterns (those too have largely disappeared).

As we were leaving, I remembering saying to my partner that I hated to leave because I knew what was to come… and it did. It always does.

It started with a few explorers learning the address from word of mouth. Then it spread to the explorers who saw it only as “baseball trading card” material. They gave it to those who were known to steal, to those who cared more about their view count than protecting the location itself.

Then the big name American 100K+ follower explorers had to come visit it. They posted exterior photos, nobody gave a shit about keeping this one off the radar. With each passing video, I noticed fewer and fewer clocks on the wall. In one video from 2012, there was just one clock. In another video, there are none. All stolen.

Monetization of online content has killed the hobby.

It disgusts me what we as a society do to these houses, it disgusts me what we as explorers do to exploit, rapidly share and think of our own social following before preservation.

Hypocritical? Maybe, but consider this: I’ve never posted a single identifying piece of information about who owned this house or any exterior images. But I digress, in a way yes, I too am responsible for what happened here.

And yes it disgusts me.

Update 1: The best locations are the ones that stay in your mind for days afterward. I found myself wondering who this man was and what happened to him? If he was in long-term care then what would happen to his collection? 

I spent the next several days scouring the internet for information. I discovered that the clocks had originally been part of another man’s collection. I made some inquiries and learned that the couple who owned this house passed away several years ago. This seemed to coincide with additional information that the house had been transferred to the son for an amount of $2 in 2006. 2006 is also the time when the homeowner’s purchases of clocks ceased. 

 Why wasn’t the son tending to the property? This is where things get even more interesting. I found a man with the same name as the son, who grew up in the same area, now living in another large Ontario city. The man is ocnfirmed to be the son but seems to have no interest in this house.

In my research I heard from a neighbour who claimed he used to hire the son (the man in the wedding photos) during the 70’s and 80’s. He confirmed that both the husband and wife have passed away.

There is a somewhat happy end to this story though. The neighbour mentioned that the property is regularly checked on. I hope that whoever is caring for it can fix the damage before it’s too late.

Update 2: Sadly as of 2022, most of the clocks have disappeared. The oil lamps on the mantle have also disappeared. This is what happens as word spreads of these untouched houses. The son has no apparent interest in securing the house.

Living room and kitchen

Bedrooms

Basement

Video

  

 

The Piano Teacher Time Capsule is an abandoned house in Ontario once lived in by two musicians from Estonia. The house has remained undisturbed for many years and only recently could it be explored.

This was the home of Klaudia Voiko and Tatjana Jakobson (Talvi Jaldre) . Voika was born May 31, 1909 in Valga, Estonia. Jaldre was born August 18, 1905 in Tartu, Estonia.

Talvi Jaldre 

Talvi graduated from Tallinn Conservatoire in 1932 as a sound artist. The following year she found work as a vocal and music teacher at a school in Tallinn.  Talvi was an accomplished piano player who performed concerts often with another teacher who taught at the same school. Her name was Leida Aalundi. 

The duo played two pianos simultaneously while performing music by Mozart, Arenski, and Debussy in the Estonia Theatre. These concerts took place between 1939 and 1941. During World War II, Talvi lost her home, pianos and valuable books and notes. She moved in 1944 to Germany where she found work at the Estonian Gymnasium and Estonian National School of Music. 

Germany turned out not to be a suitable place for Talvi to make a living, and in the fall of 1948 she moved to Canada where she found work as a maid.

In 1951 Talvi opened her own piano studio in Toronto and became a member of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association (ORMTA). She was regarded as one of the best music educators in Toronto among Estonians. 

The age range of her students was between 7 to 15 years of age. In 1952 her first student’s concert evening was held in June at the Old Andres Church. 

She would encourage her students to compete in competitions where they could receive prizes and scholarships.

Not long after Talvi arrived in Canada, she was involved in a car accident in which she was trapped under a speeding car. This left her hospitalized for some time.

By 1990, she was 85 years old and began to slow down in her teaching. She missed some of her student’s concerts due to her declining health. 

Klaudia Voiko

Klaudia was a graduate of the University of Tartu in Estonia. Even though Klaudia lived in Canada he retained ownership of over 50% of the Estonian Music Academy in Tartu, Estonia located on Rootli Street.

After the war many Estonians began arriving in Canada. In January of 1949, a priest named Pastor Puhm at St. Peter’s Church in Toronto decided to start a Sunday School for Estonian children. There Voiko taught fourteen youths history lessons. 

At some point in time Talvi and Voiko’s lives led them to live together although I’m not certain if they were in a relationship. 

They lived at 366 Cleveland Street in Toronto until sometime in the 2000’s when they moved a little further north. There are several mentions of the couple in Estonian newspapers published in Canada.

Talvi passed away on May 24, 2002 at the age of 96. Klaudia passed away on August 17, 2005 also at the age of 96. Having lived long lives and without any apparent children, the house has sat forgotten about for almost 14 years.

 

 

As word spread that there was a way inside, the house began to make its way to social media. Time capsule houses such as this are a rare gem and there’s normally care taken to ensure that they remain this way by keeping identifying information offline.  

I was dismayed to find that those who’d been here were posting exterior photos of the house making it readily identifiable and some were mentioning the city it was located in. 

It seemed that this particular time capsule wasn’t going to be given the same respect that others had been. 

In a rear bedroom is a piano with a portrait sketch on top of it, I don’t know who the woman is in the sketch. Another bedroom is filled with boxes and furniture placed in storage. Perhaps there’s more to be found by spending time in this room. 

The living room contains many books, a television placed very near the sitting chair (I’m assuming that by this time the occupant’s vision was poor). 

As you make your way from room to room you can begin to get  sense of who these people were. A Salvation Army button indicates perhaps one of them volunteered for the agency. 

 

It’s only when you enter the basement that you fully appreciate how much this couple loved their music, and art.  

I noticed several photos of youths in  photographs throughout the house. Who were these youths and where are they now?

So many questions. 

As you venture further into the recreation room you’ll notice shelves filled with vinyl records. There’s an antique record player with a Radio Shack tuner & record player on top. Many of the record albums are old classical records from Bach, Beethoven, etc. You can almost picture the couple sitting on the couch as they played these memories on a summer’s night. There are sheets with piano music on them. 

 

 

 

An article published by Eesti Express (Estonian news) about this house can be found here. English translation is here..